Off Armageddon Reef : Safehold Series, Book 1

When Earth herself lay under siege by an enemy humankind could not defeat, mankind undertook one last throw of the dice: Operation Ark. Earth's final colonizing expedition was meant to build a new civilization, on a planet so distant even the Gbaba might never find it, and without the high-tech infrastructure whose emissions might betray its location.

The Shadow of Saganami

The Star Kingdom has a new generation of officers! And this elite group hand-picked and trained by Honor Harrington herself is going to be needed immediately, as their first assignment turns out to be more dangerous than anyone expected. What was supposed to be a quiet outpost, far from the blazing conflict between the Star Kingdom of Manticore and the People's Republic of Haven has actually been targeted by an unholy alliance between the slaveholders of Manpower.

A Call to Duty: Book I of Manticore Ascendant

Growing up, Travis Uriah Long yearned for order and discipline in his life...he two things his neglectful mother couldn’t or wouldn’t provide. So when Travis enlisted in the Royal Manticoran Navy, he thought he’d finally found the structure he’d always wanted so desperately. But life in the RMN isn’t exactly what he expected. Boot camp is rough and frustrating; his first ship assignment lax and disorderly; and with the Star Kingdom of Manticore still recovering from a devastating plague, the Navy is possibly on the edge of budgetary extinction.

On Basilisk Station: Honor Harrington, Book 1

Having made a superior look a fool, Honor Harrington has been exiled to Basilisk Station in disgrace and set up for ruin. Her demoralized crew blames her for their ship's humiliating posting to an out-of-the-way picket station. The aborigines of the system's only habitable planet are smoking homicide-inducing hallucinogens.

The Oncoming Storm: Angel in the Whirlwind, Book 1

In the year 2420, war looms between the galaxy's two most powerful empires: the tyrannical Theocracy and the protectionist Commonwealth. Caught in the middle sits the occupied outpost system Cadiz, where young officer and aristocrat Katherine "Kat" Falcone finds herself prematurely promoted at the behest of her powerful father. Against her own wishes, Kat is sent to command the Commonwealth navy's newest warship,
Lightning.

Schooled in Magic

Emily is a teenage girl pulled from our world into a world of magic and mystery by a necromancer who intends to sacrifice her to the dark gods. Rescued in the nick of time by an enigmatic sorcerer, she discovers that she possesses magical powers and must go to Whitehall School to learn how to master them. There, she learns that the locals believe she is a "Child of Destiny" - someone whose choices might save or damn their world, a title that earns her both friends and enemies.

Koban, Book 1

We colonized 700 planets. Humankind enjoyed the benefits of expansion room and the end of wars. We even disbanded our military. Then the Krall found us. The Krall have used thousands of years of combat to select the genes of the strongest and fastest warriors. They are a species determined to dominate the entire galaxy, through destruction and annihilation of every opponent.

Koban is an uninhabited high-gravity planet with impossibly fast savage animals, which employ organic superconducting nerves. This deadly world is where the Krall tested humans for war capability.

Hard Duty: Merkiaari Wars, 1

Humanity's last encounter with aliens saw 16.2 billion people killed in a war with the Merkiaari that had spanned decades. Two hundred years later, the Alliance is cautiously exploring beyond its borders again, but the survey corp is considered a mere gesture by some. General Burgton of the 501st Infantry Regiment believes a lack of expansion is leading the Alliance into stagnation. So when one small ship discovers a new alien race, it should be an easy decision to make contact, but what if the aliens are like the Merkiaari?

Cold Welcome: Vatta's Peace, Book 1

Summoned to the home planet of her family's business empire, space-fleet commander Kylara Vatta is told to expect a hero's welcome. But instead she is thrown into danger unlike any other she has faced and finds herself isolated, unable to communicate with the outside world, commanding a motley group of unfamiliar troops, and struggling day by day to survive in a deadly environment with sabotaged gear. Only her undeniable talent for command can give her ragtag band a fighting chance.

The Empire's Corps

The Galactic Empire is dying and chaos and anarchy are breaking out everywhere. After a disastrous mission against terrorists on Earth itself, Captain Edward Stalker of the Terran Marine Corps makes the mistake of speaking truth to power, telling one of the most powerful men in the Empire a few home truths. As a result, Captain Stalker and his men are unceremoniously exiled to Avalon, a world right on the Rim of the Empire. It should have been an easy posting...

Crown of Slaves

The Star Kingdom's ally Erewhon is growing increasingly restive in the alliance because the new High Ridge regime ignores its needs. Add to that the longstanding problem of a slave labor planet controlled by hostile Mesans in Erewhon's stellar back yard, a problem which High Ridge also ignores.

Ark Royal

Seventy years ago, the interstellar supercarrier Ark Royal was the pride of the Royal Navy. But now, her weapons are outdated and her solid-state armour nothing more than a burden on her colossal hull. She floats in permanent orbit near Earth, a dumping ground for the officers and crew the Royal Navy wishes to keep out of the public eye. But when a deadly alien threat appears, the modern starships built by humanity are no match for the powerful alien weapons.

The Terran Privateer: The Duchy of Terra, Book 1

Earth is conquered. Sol is lost. One ship is tasked to free them. One Captain to save them all. When an alien armada destroys the United Earth Space Force and takes control of the human homeworld, newly reinstated Captain Annette Bond must take her experimental hyperspace cruiser
Tornado into exile as Terra's only interstellar privateer. She has inferior technology, crude maps, and no concept of her enemy, but the seedy underbelly of galactic society welcomes her so long as she has prizes to sell and money to spend.

Mutineer: Kris Longknife, Book 1

Kris Longknife is a daughter of privilege, born to money and power. Her father is the prime minister of her home planet, her mother the consummate politician's wife. She's been raised only to be beautiful and marry well. But the heritage of the military Longknifes courses through Kris' blood - and, against her parents' objections, she enlists in the Marines.

Starship's Mage Omnibus: Starship's Mage Series #1

In a galaxy tied together by the magic of the elite Jump Magi, Damien Montgomery is a newly graduated member of their number. With no family or connections to find a ship, he is forced into service on an interstellar freighter known to be hunted by pirates. When he takes drastic action to save the
Blue Jay from their pursuers, he sets in motion a sequence of events beyond his control and attracts enemies on both sides of the law.

Daughter of Dragons: The Legacy of Dragons, Book 1

The world of Dematr had been locked unchanging for centuries by the Great Guilds, most people living in a world of oil lamps, crossbows, and horse cavalry, the Mechanics reserving to themselves the technology for steam locomotives, rifles, and far-talkers while the Mages treated all others as if they were nothing - until Master Mechanic Mari, dragon slayer and pirate queen, and Master of Mages Alain raised the army of the new day to free their world.

Renegade: Spiral Wars, Book 1

One thousand years after Earth was destroyed in an unprovoked attack, humanity has emerged victorious from a series of terrible wars to assure its place in the galaxy. But during celebrations on humanity’s new Homeworld, the legendary Captain Pantillo of the battle carrier Phoenix is court-martialed then killed, and his deputy, Lieutenant Commander Erik Debogande, the heir to humanity’s most powerful industrial family, is framed with his murder.

Crusade: Starfire, Book 1

Spacers call the warp point Charon's Ferry. No star ship has ever entered it and returned since a vengeful Orion task force pursued a doomed Terran colonization fleet into it in 2206. Almost a century has passed. The fiery hatreds of a quarter-century of warfare between the Terran Federation and the Zheeerlikou'valkhannaieeee, the cat-like species humans called the "Orions", have eased at least a little.

Publisher's Summary

The Mesan Alignment is revealed, and for Honor Harrington and the Manticoran Star Kingdom, this means war!

Unintended Consequences

Sometimes things don't work out exactly as planned.

The Mesan Alignment has a plan - one it's been working on for centuries. A plan to remake the galaxy and genetically improve the human race - its way.

Until recently things have gone pretty much as scheduled, but then the Alignment hit a minor bump in the road called the Star Empire of Manticore. So the Alignment engineered a war between the Solarian League, the biggest and most formidable interstellar power in human history. To help push things along, the Alignment launched a devastating sneak attack that destroyed the Royal Manticoran Navy's industrial infrastructure.

And in order to undercut Manticore's galaxy-wide reputation as a star nation of its word, it launched Operation Janus - a false-flag covert operation to encourage rebellions it knows will fail by promising Manticoran support. The twin purposes are to harden Solarian determination to destroy the Star Empire once and for all and to devastate the Star Empire's reputation with the rest of the galaxy.

But even the best laid plans can have unintended consequences, and one of those consequences in this case may just be a new dawn of freedom for oppressed star nations everywhere.

This book is composed, almost in its entirety, of the sweepings off the cutting room floor from the last three or four books in the series. The story weaves carefully around the major plot points of the series without ever quite making contact. If taken as a stand alone novel then the plot is both tedious and disjointed, without a focused narrative direction.

The narration was poorly paced with frequent poor pronunciation. While I appreciate the effort Kevin Collins made to pronounce the foreign language words, the emphasis he placed upon the polish words was quite jarring and further slowed the reading pace. I ended up listening at 1.25 x speed, as this was the best compromise between improving the pace and the distortion caused by higher speeds.

Overall the poor narration made a poor novel almost unreadable. I persevered to the end but wish I had not bothered.

This book is very long and doesn't seem to hang together as a novel, just parallels times explored in the main series.
I dont mind long with Weber books and its easier
when its audio but I didn't feel there was enough here.
The Ark Royal series for example, put plenty of action, politics and events ino 12 hours or so., making very slow freight out of telling stuff glossed ov ere r in the main series is probably for fans only

It takes a very long time to get going and is very difficult to keep who is who straight. It is easily the weakest HH book I've experienced, and that goes back 20years. However the last third was good but overall could do better.

Sadly David weber has simply went back yet again in the story line and told the same story from a few different perspectives. he isn't actually advancing the story line at all. Huge disappointment. Years of waiting for the next volume and he gives his readers a rehash of previous story lines.

What could David Weber have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I understand that Weber wanted to create multiple distinct settings to immerse the audience in, but the overly heavy-handed use of foreign words makes this extremely difficult to follow unless you're drawing a string-chart and constantly referencing it. At some point about 5 hours in, every time I heard a foreign word I'd stop listening and just wait until Weber discussed the atmosphere so that I could understand what was going on.

Did Kevin T. Collins do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

This was a serious shock after binging the whole series all this year. I initially hated the previous narrator, but I ~eventually~ grew fond of her characters and come to expect their voices. This new narrator has a completely different idea on how the characters sound and how they portray themselves.

I don't like it.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Serious, crushing disappointment.

Any additional comments?

Weber spends way too much time focusing on the names of organizations in foreign languages to the point that you will easily lose track of where you are, who is talking, and who they represent. I suggest you stop listening every time you hear an overly long foreign name and just assume it's either "The Rebels" or "The Empire" and be presently surprised when you picked the wrong side.

24 of 26 people found this review helpful

Klaumbaz

17/03/17

Overall

Performance

Story

"good story good purchase narrators annoying"

the narrator sounds like he's trying to get his master's degree in the pronunciation, combined with all of the Czech and Polish names and words it made it hard to follow along. he gives every Manticore an effete British accent

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Paul

14/12/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Good story, poor reader"

Would you listen to Shadow of Victory again? Why?

yes, on my next read through of the series before the next book comes out. Not looking forward to it

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Kevin T. Collins?

Jay Snyder, he has read other books in the series. Allyson Johnson also has read books in Honorverse. I have listened to other books by Kevin Collins and he is good. But, a bad change in the series

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

not in a good way, wrong reader

Any additional comments?

I don't review books much. I have enjoyed the series, but having another author come in and read instead of Jay Snyder or Allyson Johnson makes the book be a much poorer listen. I like to listen to a book while doing other things when I can't physically read the book myself. You get used to how one person pronounces names and words. Or Character voices. Kevin T. Collins was the wrong choice for this book. This books needs to be rerecorded.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Camron159

Laurel, MD United States

12/12/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"You've read 90 percent of this already"

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I wouldn't bother with this one. One of Weber's failings is a tendency, every few volumes, to gather up cuttings from the floor that didn't make it into the last volume, and present the same story from a slightly different perspective. There are some nice nuggets there, but for myself, I really wish Weber would FINISH THIS COLLOSSUS before he dies.

Has Shadow of Victory turned you off from other books in this genre?

Not at all

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

He could have studied up pronunciation for various words used by prior narrators.

Was Shadow of Victory worth the listening time?

Not so much

Any additional comments?

Read only if every little detail is important to you. This volume seems composed almost entirely of stuff that was edited out of the original. It does not move the story FORWARD as much as an inch.

17 of 19 people found this review helpful

Kenneth

09/12/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Same narrator ruins another Weber book"

Would you try another book from David Weber and/or Kevin T. Collins?

Weber: yes, but he's on probation.Collins: not unless I was desperate.

Would you ever listen to anything by David Weber again?

Yes

What didn’t you like about Kevin T. Collins’s performance?

Breathless and overdramatic. The same way he did trauma to Midst Toil and Tribulation in the Safehold series.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment in the failure to advance the story.

15 of 17 people found this review helpful

Spencer Smith

06/06/17

Overall

Performance

Story

"Great book, not so hot narrator."

The narrator sounds like he is hacking up hairballs when using some accents. His performance made it difficult to enjoy the book. Audible, please bring back Alison Johnson to narrate Weber's books.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Don

Dinuba, California, United States

11/05/17

Overall

Performance

Story

"PLEASE stop using Kevin T Collins."

If you could sum up Shadow of Victory in three words, what would they be?

Book is Awesome (narrater not so much)

Any additional comments?

Soo, The book is good. But ruined, like one of the SafeHold series with a really awful narrator. He is good at childrens books, and he should stay there. keep him away from scifi.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Chuck McIntyre

Oakland, CA

07/12/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Weber has lost his way"

I don't put aside books often, but I gave up here. Nothing happens of interest. The first chapter is almost half made up words with very little relevant plot or any characters to care about. It seems the Honorverse side novels are just filler and noise. Weber should focus back on main characters and just summarize everything that happens in Talbot and The Verge as asides in the main story. This is the last book in this series I'll purchase.

13 of 15 people found this review helpful

Jason

06/12/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Waste of a credit!"

What disappointed you about Shadow of Victory?

The book felt like it was pieced together with what ever was left on the cutting floor of the past 3 books.

Any additional comments?

First time i felt disappointed by a David Weber Book.

13 of 15 people found this review helpful

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